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06 May 2016 1:32 PM |
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"Postsecondary institutions in Alberta have reached out to offer assistance to Fort McMurray evacuees in response to recent fires. Institutions such as MacEwan University, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, SAIT, and Mount Royal University have announced that they are on standby to accommodate evacuees as needed. Athabasca University is offering waived exam rebooking fees and course extension fees, replacements for lost or damaged course materials, and free course withdrawals with full refunds for all affected students. Keyano College has postponed its convocation and is closed until further notice."

22 Apr 2016 9:39 AM |
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By Christine Arnold and Grace Karram Stephenson

Over the past 30 years, higher education has transitioned from an elite endeavour to an open market. The number of post-secondary institutions around the world has increased exponentially, often through the founding of small-scale, private operations.

In such a climate, scholars and critics debate what role, if any, governments should take in founding, funding and regulating these diverse institutions.

As the Canadian situation shows, a set of diverse institutions requires a thoughtful and intentional approach at the systemic level. An emphasis on consumer protection, harmonisation and degree progression is necessary to align such complex post-secondary systems.

'Occupational’ vs 'traditional’ transfer

Post-secondary education in Ontario – Canada’s most populous province – is, for the most part, publicly funded. Despite the presence of private career colleges, the main players are the 22 public universities and 24 public colleges (19 Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, and five Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning).

Transferring credits between these institutions has historically been very difficult. There are limited system-wide standards between the binary college and university sectors and subsequently a lack of commitment towards credit transfer systems.

Colleges in Ontario have a unique mandate, purpose and curriculum distinct from that of universities. While the curriculum in most universities is quite generalist (primarily arts and science based) at the undergraduate level, the college curriculum is practical, hands-on and vocationally specific.

As such, Ontario students moving from college to university tend to encounter what Barbara Townsend, Debra Bragg, and Collin Ruud called ‘occupational transfer’ versus ‘traditional transfer’. Only the coursework college students take in general education and language or communications transfers easily when moving on to a university degree.

The result is variation in administration, policies and procedures between the two sectors as well as between individual colleges or universities. Students often struggle when attempting to move between institutions as they face challenges transferring their credits.

New frameworks for transfer

However, in 2011 the ground shifted and the moment many had been waiting for occurred. A provincial transfer framework and the establishment of a new coordinating body, the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer or ONCAT, was announced by the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities with a commitment of nearly CAN$74 million (US$58 million) over five years.

Since this time, several phases of research have been funded in order to develop clear pathways and information for students transferring between institutions. There are several lessons to be learned from the Ontario context for governments, agencies and institutions that regulate post-secondary education systems with varying institution types, qualifications and programmes. And there are several learning opportunities that still exist for those in the province as the system matures.

Transfer trends and principles

In Ontario, currently available data reveal that 55,000 students transfer within Ontario each year via 1,300 block agreements and 120,000 course transfers. The top five transfer programmes are business, health, social science, engineering and liberal or general arts.

There has been great progress made in the Ontario context. An extensive network of pathways and resources has been developed. However, there are also several questions that remain with regard to students’ use of pathways, the effect of commuting distances on pathway use and responsive pathway development.

The Pathways to Education and Work research group at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, recently sought to investigate these questions and develop a ‘decision-making tool’ to help policy-makers, educational institutions and faculties or departments decide where to invest effort in developing and maintaining educational pathways between colleges and universities. Funding for the project was graciously provided by ONCAT.

The project revealed that regional/geographical conversations about pathway development are important as students in Ontario generally transfer within the same region as their sending institution.

In addition, the frequencies with which students transfer between and within sectors was found to be fairly equal, with less than half of college graduates pursuing university study in the same broad field and others choosing complementary broad fields of study.

This is in contrast to current policy, which often assumes that the majority of transfer is linear from college to university and that students’ first and second qualifications are within the same field of study.

What can we learn from Ontario?

The principle driving transfer research in Ontario is that no degree – except perhaps the PhD – should be terminal. The goal is to increase student transfer from one qualification to another and maximise credit so that students are not left repeating previous coursework with additional costs.

Students need to be savvy consumers when choosing their studies, and government and institutions need to ensure that qualifications are designed with multiple entry points. Educational pathways that connect lower- and higher-level qualifications are important for student progression and social equity and inclusion.

As Ontario continues to refine their credit transfer system, the following must be considered:

Clear information about eligible transfer credits and their function prior to admission;

Access to appeals or review procedures for all credit transfer decisions;

Emphasis on regional/geographic frameworks;

Increase in alternative entry mechanisms;

Attention to increasing the number of students transferring versus number of pathways.

Grace Karram Stephenson is a doctoral candidate in higher and international education in the department of leadership, higher and adult education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, or OISE, University of Toronto, Canada. Christine H Arnold is a postdoctoral fellow in the department of leadership, higher and adult education at the University of Toronto conducting research with the OISE Pathways Group.

15 Apr 2016 11:46 AM |
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Often easier said than done, Dr. Fred Luskin, head of The Forgiveness Project at Standford University, shares his nine step process for forgiveness.

Know exactly how you feel about what happened and be able to articulate what about the situation is not OK. Then, tell a trusted couple of people about your experience.

Make a commitment to yourself to do what you have to do to feel better. Forgiveness is for you and not for anyone else.

Forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation with the person that hurt you, or condoning of their action. What you are after is to find peace. Forgiveness can be defined as the “peace and understanding that come from blaming that which has hurt you less, taking the life experience less personally, and changing your grievance story.”

Get the right perspective on what is happening. Recognize that your primary distress is coming from the hurt feelings, thoughts and physical upset you are suffering now, not what offended you or hurt you two minutes – or ten years – ago. Forgiveness helps to heal those hurt feelings.

At the moment you feel upset practice a simple stress management technique to soothe your body’s flight or fight response.

Give up expecting things from other people, or your life, that they do not choose to give you. Recognize the “unenforceable rules” you have for your health or how you or other people must behave. Remind yourself that you can hope for health, love, peace and prosperity and work hard to get them.

Put your energy into looking for another way to get your positive goals met than through the experience that has hurt you. Instead of mentally replaying your hurt seek out new ways to get what you want.

Remember that a life well lived is your best revenge. Instead of focusing on your wounded feelings, and thereby giving the person who caused you pain power over you, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you. Forgiveness is about personal power.

Amend your grievance story to remind you of the heroic choice to forgive.

The practice of forgiveness has been shown to reduce anger, hurt depression and stress and leads to greater feelings of hope, peace, compassion and self confidence. Practicing forgiveness leads to healthy relationships as well as physical health. It also influences our attitude which opens the heart to kindness, beauty, and love.

08 Apr 2016 11:05 AM |
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The Times Higher Education has released its 150 Under 50 Rankings for 2016, and four Canadian institutions have been placed in the top 150. The University of Calgary placed 18th in the rankings, making it the highest ranked Canadian university. Concordia University, Université de Québec à Montréal, and the University of Regina all placed in the 101-150 range of rankings. These rankings evaluate the top 150 universities across the world that are less than 50 years old, using the same performance indicators as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings with a reduced weighting for reputation.

19 Jun 2015 10:17 AM |
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On a new "Who Wants to be a Registrar," Grant McMillan posted: " Registrars are usually known for being prepared. We're the Boy/Girl Scouts of the academic world, always ready to serve with our Swiss-Army-like kits. Need a transcript? Got one. Need a payment plan? Got that right here. Need a classroom for your new "

23 Mar 2015 10:31 AM |
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Grant McMillan posted: " It always interests me how people react when I tell them I'm the Registrar at Trinity Western University. Some give me a slightly confused look followed by, "What is a registrar?" Others give me the slightly awed look and maybe a "Wow!" sometimes foll"

Who Wants To Be A Registrar? is Grant McMillan’s reflection on the world of higher education from the view of a Registrar. Grant blogs about ideas on leadership and management, innovation, process, and service. Grant McMillan has been a Registrar in two institutions, Briercrest College from 1997 to 2007, and Trinity Western University since 2007. He has been actively involved in the Western Association of Registrars of Universities and Colleges in Canada since 1997. He served on the Executive of WARUCC from 1999 to 2009, as Vice President, President, and Past President. He recently completed a term on the Executive of the British Columbia Registrars Association as Vice President.

WARUCC 2015 is fast approaching (June 22 - 25, 2015) and we are looking for engaging, practical, and relevant learning sessions. Whether you have presented at a conference in the past or not, please consider how you might be able to give back to your peers and the Registrar’s profession by submitting a session proposal. We welcome seasoned presenters and first-timers who will encourage and challenge attendees through a variety of formats.

We are open to panels, round tables, case studies, “how to’s” or discussion based presentations, and other creative ideas you may have for our conference sessions. Consider also how you might work together with one of your colleagues at your own institution or another one.

Our focus this year is on “Student Success – We’re in this Together”. Don’t let this limit your thinking though! We hope to see lots of session proposals and are focused on quality, variety, and topics that will best support the professional development of attendees.

In addition to the call for session proposals noted above, WARUCC and the BC Council for Senior Student Affairs Leaders (CSSAL) are combining their efforts to offer a conference program that recognizes the many partnerships that exist between Registrar’s Offices and Student Affairs divisions. This is a further call for session ideas that highlight these partnerships with particular focus on support for student mental health, peer learning, student life and leadership, student financial literacy, and experiential learning, to name a few.

Once we pass this deadline, our program committee will make decisions on our conference sessions and be in touch with each person who sends in a proposal to update them on the status of their submission.

It is that time of year again when the WARUCC Executive is putting out the call for applications to the J. David McLeod Assistantship Fund. This fund was created to assist members with professional development, research or educational opportunities. Each year up to $5000 is awarded.

Attached please find an application form and information about the fund. The information on the attached should be self explanatory; however, if you have any questions, please check the website at http://www.warucc.ca/page-1454441 or don't hesitate to contact Neil Marnoch directly at pastpres@warucc.ca .

Completed applications that are endorsed by the applicant's Registrar/Director should be submitted to Neil Marnoch, WARUCC Past President atpastpres@warucc.caby March 31, 2015 for consideration by the Awards Committee.

21 Jan 2015 2:12 PM |
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I’ve attended many conferences during my professional career and can safely say I have been nurtured by each of them. Regularly interacting with other professionals who do what I do renews my energy and focus and builds a feeling that the work I do is valued. Keynote addresses have been inspirational and informative. I always come back with a least one good idea – usually more - from the concurrent/peer led sessions. I am strengthened by discussions in formal groups, during breaks, over meals and other informal gatherings.

National and regional conferences, while both equally valued, are very different experiences. National – North American level – conferences are very large affairs ranging between 5000 and 8000 attendees. The scale of these conferences affords the ability to involve high-powered, well known and influential speakers. There are usually more concurrent sessions of interest than one can physically attend. New attendees can sometimes feel lost in a very large crowd. You may know some of the other attendees, but with the volume of people and the expansive spaces of the convention halls, you may not see but a few familiar faces. At most national events people disperse for meals and unless you have made arrangements to meet a friend, you’re likely on your own.

Regional conferences, on the other hand, are smaller and more intimate affairs. Although regional conferences do not have the abundance of sessions and choices available at the larger conferences, what they do offer is opportunities for real engagement. With attendees totalling 150 to 300, sessions are smaller. Breakfasts and lunches are usually included. Breaks are more intimate and it is easier to find those individuals that you really want to make a connection with. There are lots of opportunities for those starting out in the profession to meet up with people considered leaders in the field. Once the connections are made, they carry on and you may find yourself re-connecting at larger events. All of sudden the national conferences are not so intimidating.

The WARUCC Biannual Meeting is one such conference that affords opportunities for meaningful engagement. WARUCC 2013 will be held at the Delta Hotel in Winnipeg, June 24 – 27. This gathering will mark 50 years of western Canadian registrars and enrolment professionals getting together to share ideas and provide support as we have collectively grown in our profession and the ways we serve our students and institutions. This is reflected our theme: Connect – Engage – Grow Forward. Plan to attend and participate in discussions of matters that concern you on a daily basis. Be inspired by our keynote speakers. Meet old friends and make new connections. For further information, please visit our conference website.